Igiebor impresses in Betis’ first win

Super Eagles midfielder Nosa Igiebor made an impressive contribution to help his Spanish club Real Betis to a hard fought 1-0 victory over Portuguese opposition Guimarães to record their first victory in the current Europa league campaign.

The Nigerian international was on duty on the night for 63 minutes before being taken off for Spanish boy Nono.

Betis earned their first win in Group I to keep pace with Olympique Lyonnais at the top of the table with Álvaro Vadillo’s second-half effort was all Pepe Mel’s men needed to secure maximum points.

Having struggled domestically, Igiebor and his team-mates found respite in continental competition on Thursday night as the winger’s sublime strike in the 50th minute made the difference.

Having lost on all five previous visits to Spain, Guimarães did not have history on their side but started with a desire to banish that unwanted record.

In the first minute, Chris Malonga volleyed over the bar from ten metres, and Fernando Russi later headed a good chance over from a similar distance.

After the early storm, Betis worked their way into the dominance as moments later Jorge Molina saw a powerful low drive excellently kept out by Douglas to deny the host a first half lead.

The breakthrough came five minutes after the break when Vadillo jinked in from the left flank, exchanged a rapid one-two with Joan Verdú on the edge of the area before opening his body to curl the return perfectly into the far corner to hand the Beticos their first win in Europ this season.